Additional Quotes about the Local Church by Witness Lee and Watchman Nee

Illustrations of the Ground of the Local Church

We should be separated only by the localities in which we live. If we live in Anaheim, we cannot meet together regularly with the saints in New York. This is impossible. If we are in Anaheim, it is also difficult for us to meet with the saints in Los Angeles. Our locality spontaneously separates us. We are separated outwardly, but we are still one inwardly. We are one in the Spirit with the saints in New York, London, and Taipei.

(Witness Lee, Church Life, 40)

The Scriptures clearly show us that in every locality the expression of the Body of Christ, that is, the local church, should be just one. There is no place in the Scriptures where there was more than one local church in any given city. If you are living in Los Angeles, you must be built up together with other believers in Los Angeles as the church in that locality. If you are in Tokyo, you must be built up with those who are saved in Tokyo as the church in that locality. As a Christian living in any locality, you must be built up with the other Christians in that locality as the unique local church there, which should be called the church in that place. The one that was built up in Jerusalem was called the church in Jerusalem (Acts 8:1), and the one in Antioch was called the church in Antioch (Acts 13:1). In the same principle, the one in Los Angeles should be called the church in Los Angeles.

(Witness Lee, Ground of the Church, 9-10)

What is division? Division is to be without the ground, and to be without the ground is to be divisive, and is something condemned by God. Please forgive me for using Bijie as an example again. What is the difference between going to Bijie to preach the gospel, to save people, and to edify saints and going to North Szechuan Road in Shanghai to do the same thing? Outwardly, there is no difference. It is not that people cannot be saved and receive eternal life when the gospel is preached at North Szechuan Road; neither is it that the people at North Szechuan Road will lose their experience of salvation. The gospel truth is the same, and the messages may be the same. Everything seems to be the same. But we cannot establish another church at North Szechuan Road. If we go to North Szechuan Road to establish a church, that is a division. The messages given in Bijie may be exactly the same as the messages given at North Szechuan Road, but in the two different localities there are two different grounds. In Bijie it may be the church, while at North Szechuan Road it is a division. The same message is given at these two localities, but what a difference there is! Suppose we set up the Lord’s table in Bijie, that is, the Lord’s supper, the breaking of bread. If we move the table with all the attendants from Bijie to North Szechuan Road, we may pray in the same manner as before, study the Bible as before, and praise the Lord as before. In these things there is no difference at all, but in Bijie there is a church, while there is a division at North Szechuan Road. When a woman marries a single man, she is his wife; if she marries a man who is already married, she is not his wife. When we go to a place where there is no church, we can establish one. But in a place where there is already a church, we can only join it, we cannot set up another one. This is a basic principle in the Bible. If we do not care for the boundary of locality, everything is finished. If we discard this basic ground, we have no ground.

(Watchman Nee, Further Talks, 22-23)

Acts 9:31 speaks of the churches in Judea. The church spoken of here is plural in Greek, English, and Chinese. It is the churches in Judea. It is plural in number because at that time Judea was a province of Rome. Since a province included many localities, there were many churches. Thus, the Bible does not speak of the church in Judea, but the churches in Judea. In the Scriptures there is only a local church, not a provincial church. The same is true of Galatia, which was a province consisting of many localities; therefore, Galatians 1:2 says, “The churches of Galatia.” Ephesus is a seaport, a locality; therefore, the church in Ephesus is referred to in the singular. This point is very clear in the Bible. Philadelphia was a city, and only one church existed there. Asia, which is Asia Minor today, was a large province; therefore, the Bible says, “The seven churches which are in Asia,” not the church which is in Asia (Rev. 1:4).

(Watchman Nee, Collected Works, Set 3, Vol. 55, 157-158)

Therefore, in Antioch, there is the church in Antioch, not the churches in Antioch. It would be wrong to say the churches in Antioch. According to God’s arrangement, a locality can only be matched with one church, not many churches. In the Bible we can never find the churches in Corinth or the churches in Antioch. But the Bible does say the church in Antioch, the church in Philippi, and the church in Philadelphia. All of these churches are referred to in the singular. There were not multiple churches in Antioch, Philippi, or Philadelphia.

(Watchman Nee, Collected Works, Set 3, Vol. 55, 158)

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